Milestone wedding anniversary for diamond Sheffield couple

Today will be an extra special Christmas Eve for lovebirds Graham and Doris Lawson - as they will be celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary.

The happy couple are commemorating 60 years together with a party at The Laurels and The Limes Care Home in Manchester Road, Crosspool.

Graham and Doris Lawson on their wedding day.

It was a case of love at first sight when Graham, aged 87, and Doris, aged 83, first met at a dance at Cutlers’ Hall in 1953.

Graham said: “The first time I saw Doris I told my friend ‘that’s the girl I’m going to marry’.”

Their first date was a trip to Greystones Picture Palace in Ecclesall Road and within a year Graham had asked for her hand in marriage. They were wed at St John’s Church, Ranmoor, on Christmas Eve 1955.

Graham said: After the wedding ceremony we caught a train to London for our honeymoon, though most of the city was closed on Christmas Day. But we did catch a couple of shows: The Pajama Game at the Palladium and Kismet.”

The couple settled in Sandygate. After Doris was diagnosed with dementia five years ago, she moved into the care home and Graham visits her every other day.

Doris worked for the National Coal Board and then for Woodhead Components. Graham worked at the William Wards steelworks in Woodseats and then in the parks department at Sheffield City Council. He was later a warrants officer for the police and served as a councillor for Hallam in the 1990s. The couple have one daughter, Joanne, and two grandchildren, Christopher and Charlotte. Charlotte will be marrying her finance Luke in 2016 at the same church Graham and Doris exchanged their vows.